Human Rights
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.
We respect the freedom and fundamental rights to which all people are entitled
We ensure equal opportunities for all of our employees and applicants, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind. We also respect the freedom of association of all of our employees. Furthermore, we strive to embed and integrate the respect for human rights into our business in order to protect and promote the rights of our employees and people in our supply chain.
We are firmly committed to protecting human rights in every aspect of our business operations. We guide ourselves in this respect by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN’s Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
We embrace the commitment and responsibility of ensuring that human rights are upheld all along our value chain, which in turn encompasses all our stakeholders, particularly our suppliers, our business communities and, of course, our customers.
Our Framework for Labor and Human Rights
In strong support of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights(UNGPs), we established and embedded our own framework for human rights to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for any adverse human rights impacts across our business activities.
We also endeavor to ensure that our first-tier suppliers undertake the same level of scrutiny of human rights risks as ours at their operations. Further, we oblige them to have their suppliers, or sub-suppliers to Kupertino, to apply the same level of our working environment policies.
Our Policy
We have established a robust set of labor and human rights policies based on Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights(UNGPs); Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development(OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises; UN Convention on the Rights of the Child(UNCRC); International Labor Organization(ILO) Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. We abide by the Code of Conduct of the Responsible Business Alliance(RBA) and comply with the laws and regulations of the countries where we conduct our business.
These commitments are enshrined in the Corporation Human Rights Policy, which was approved by our Board of Directors. This policy is not a starting point, as respect for human rights forms an inalienable part of Kupertino corporate culture; rather, it is more a compilation and update of the values already embodied in other documents such as our Code of Conduct and Responsible Practices, which sets down the values and principles by which our employees must guide their actions, and our Code of Conduct for Manufacturers and Suppliers, which lays out the rules of engagement with our supply chain.
The Policy is the cornerstone and first articulating prong of our human rights strategy. This strategy permeates the promotion of and respect for human rights in decision-making and value creation at the company. Accordingly, it meets the following criteria:
It is embedded within the business model.
- It is open to continuous improvement.
- It fosters and systematises open dialogue.
- It implies training and internal engagement at every level of the organisation.
- Its implementation is evaluated on the basis of quantifiable indicators.
Due Diligence
The strategy’s second articulating prong is due diligence, which enables us to identify the most significant impacts of our value creation on human rights and to establish the required safeguards.
We operate a system equipped with both internal and external protocols in order to identify and monitor human rights risks at our worksites and across our supply chain.
Grievance Mechanisms
The third and last articulating prong of this strategy consists of our grievance mechanisms, which strengthen the due diligence process by helping to identify and remedy negative human rights impacts, while reinforcing our stakeholder relations. The most important mechanism in place for presenting a grievance is the whistle-blowing channel managed by our Ethics Committee which can be used by any employee or third party with a legitimate vested interest. In parallel, we engage in constant dialogue with all of our stakeholders.
Our grievance resolution procedure is based on the “Effectiveness criteria of non-judicial grievance mechanisms” stipulated in the 31st clause of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Anyone can raise a formal complaint and must not be discriminated or face retribution for raising the complaint. We endeavor to ensure the procedure is transparent and the rights of those involved are respected at all steps of the procedure. We also guarantee anonymity of anyone who files a complaint.